6,162 posts in this topic

Part of the problem is that Microsoft accepts the stigma that people put on it. They say that the OS is insecure. Take a look at the known fact that Windows gets a lot of viruses from IE or Outlook Express (when it was around). And people point the finger at MS about getting all these viruses, even though their own practices were the cause of their problems. Nevertheless, MS takes the responsibility instead of attempting to inform their userbase. And this led to the UAC. There was no attempt to educate their users, so they put in a system that was designed to help protect Windows from the users.

Tripredacus,

This question may be OT, but what you wrote above caught my eye because I've been toying with the idea of switching to Linux if Microsoft persists in foisting Metro on users beyond Windows 8.

The question has to do with the relative security of Windows vs. Linux. Linux advocates like to say that their favorite OS is much more secure than Windows. Is that true, or just propaganda? Or perhaps "mainly true vs. mainly propaganda"? Seems to me that if the security problems attributed to Windows are actually the result of bad habits by users (as you suggested in the quote above), then maybe PC security wouldn't really improve even if there were a mass switch over to Linux. What do you tbhink?

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Meanwhile in other breaking news, Ford, Mercedes, Audi and Porsche have noted declining usage of the space-wasting included spare tire thanks to data collected from their Customer Experience Improvement Program. Spokesmen for the companies say that most users have never even touched the spare tire and many do not even know that it is there or could even find it if they wanted to. 'Our research indicates that we can vastly improve their fast and fluid experience by removing this useless legacy application'. No word if other auto manufacturers will follow suit.

If MS designed a car with the same methodology as they did for this Metro garbage, here's what they'd say:

"Most of our clients hardly ever use the horn, emergency brake or the trunk, so they will be removed (not optional). As the driver hardly ever looks through the rear side windows, we might remove those by RTM too. Secondary controls (those which you're not actively using for 90% of the ride) such as turn signals, headlights, door handles and windshield wipers will be relocated in a compartment inside the glove box. And the stale and outdated controls which you actually use, like the steering wheel will be replaced with new shiny controls. For example, just slide your finger across the dash to turn. We noticed you also play a lot with the radio and AC controls, so we added animated "live" icons for it all over your windshield.

They're making everyone (their customers and their business partners) angry with Win8, Metro and Surface (and damaging their reputation), for a product that'll essentially be Zune v2 (dead in the water vs the iPad). They just can't fire Ballmer soon enough.

Great job Mr Ballmer, you just made this long time MS fanboy walk into an Apple store today. I now know for sure I'll be buying the kids an iPad this year (and our next mp3 players were practically guaranteed to be iPods too -- it's about the only decent player left). Now I'm just one step away from buying a MacBook... Your move!

They're making everyone (their customers and their business partners) angry with Win8, Metro and Surface (and damaging their reputation), for a product that'll essentially be Zune v2 (dead in the water vs the iPad). They just can't fire Ballmer soon enough.

This is the take I'd seen from Acer. Of course, in this case when evaluating the worth of the prediction one has to factor in the source, but obviously there's no question that MS is p*ssing off its partners by setting itself up in direct competition with them.

Great job Mr Ballmer, you just made this long time MS fanboy walk into an Apple store today. I now know for sure I'll be buying the kids an iPad this year (and our next mp3 players were practically guaranteed to be iPods too -- it's about the only decent player left). Now I'm just one step away from buying a MacBook... Your move!

Not just you! Even Bill G. seems now to be downplaying the value of a Microsoft tablet. Just as the Surface emerges (so to speak), the timing of these remarks is interesting. You'd think he'd be eager to promote them as much as possible.

the research firm Gartner predicts in a new press release today that the launch of Windows 8 later this year is the end of Microsoft's WinNT programming model and the beginning of the WinRT (Windows Runtime) model (not to be confused with Windows RT, otherwise known as WOA).

What's the difference betwen "WinRT" and "Windows RT"? I thought the former was simply an abbreviation of the latter.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

What's the difference betwen "WinRT" and "Windows RT"? I thought the former was simply an abbreviation of the latter.

The first was rather NT, not RT.

Then again, the death of NT means the death of Windows as far as I'm concerned.

Thanks, it sounded like they were talking about three different things there (WinNT, WinRT, and Windows RT). But then if we substitute WinNT for WinRT in the quoted sentence, it no longer makes any sense:

(original)

the launch of Windows 8 later this year is the end of Microsoft's WinNT programming model and the beginning of the WinRT (Windows Runtime) model (not to be confused with Windows RT, otherwise known as WOA).

(modified as per above)

the launch of Windows 8 later this year is the end of Microsoft's WinNT programming model and the beginning of the WinNT (Windows Runtime) model (not to be confused with Windows RT, otherwise known as WOA).

How should the original sentence read?

BTW, if Gartner is right (assuming we can untangle what they're saying), then it would refute all those Win8 fanboys who've been patronizingly reminding us that we'll still be able to use the Desktop if we want, for the foreseeable future. And it WOULD be the end of Windows.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Definitely, and worse than that normally they are not even consequent with their naming, meaning that the SAME (often misnamed) thing is often called with different names.

The "XPRESS" or "Fast Compression" of WIM's is documented (with some wrong algorithms) as "Win2k3" which is of course very logical in their perverted minds, since the .wim format has NOT been used in conjunction with Windows Server 2003:

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

My opinion on Surface/Surface Pro is: Okay-ish hardware, crappy OS software. I say okay-ish because the Pro model has Intel graphics. Intel graphics are utter s*** despite Ivy Bridge bringing a massive performance gain. If the Pro/x86 model had GeForce or Radeon class graphics, but then it would possibly have crappy battery life. Even if I get the Surface Pro for free (I get these things through promotions and contests), I will put Windows 7 on it, what matters to me is having a usable OS with long battery life. Having the joke of an OS with long battery life is useless. If I get just the Surface, well that will be a nice toy exclusively for playing casual games. I certainly won't pay for either. I will only pay for a super high-end desktop on which I will run a combination of my beloved XP x64 and not-so-beloved Windows 7 x64.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

The video was fantastic, but I loved that Metro screen, too! Having a hard time picking out my "favorite" tile.

Speaking of Metro, there is a fabulous short UI analysis in the comments section on this page. Scroll down to the comment by "Boe Dillard." Here's the bottom line:

I'm stunned MS never had a psychologist review the Metro interface. To many it is just a sea of tiles as it isn't well organized according to the way people perceive data. Some people can instantly tell you what number 280000000 represents but for others, putting in commas to 178,000,000 makes it much more readable - as the heirarchical nature of the start menu brings order for some of us. To me, the tile interface is about as pleasant as trying to quickly find the 8 of clubs in a deck of cards that has been tossed on the floor.

Just occurred to me -- the Metro start screen doesn't provide a "recent programs" list like the Vista/Win7 Start Menu, does it? If so, score another one against the Metro start screen. Sometimes you have to start using a certain program for a while (like tax software ) and the listing bubbles up to that auto list, so that you only need to look it up a couple of times. In Metro, for equally quick access it looks like I'd have to manually move the program to the first screenful, and then move it back offscreen when I was done using the program for the foreseeable future (assuming that I knew when I'd no longer be needing it).